SAP S/4HANA Road Map: The Long View of Innovation and Value #ASUG Best Practices Recap

Rudolf Hois, SAP, gave this presentation from the ASUG Best Practices conference this week.

Source: SAP

From ASUG Best Practices conference this week

Figure 2: Source: SAP

Everything in the future is subject to change

Figure 3: Source: SAP

Heavy lifting is done

Focusing functional innovations

Figure 4: Source: SAP

Going forward, looking to intercompany processes

Plan for 2022 – interaction center for Utilities

Innovation strategy going forward focusing on Business Process Innovation

HCM for S/4HANA is coming next year

Figure 5: Source: SAP

2021 was released in early October

Focused on sales process

Have a Fiori app for sales order, along with mass changes for sales orders

Can import sales orders from unstructured data

Figure 6: Source: SAP

Focus area continues to be integration strategy, one domain model

One inbox, lifecycle management for cloud

SAP is not done; it is a continuous process

Figure 7: Source: SAP

Looking at business process innovation

Traditional model looks at insights

Now look at predictive technology

Instead of exception management, go to exception avoidance

Further investing in this area

High degree of automation

Dedication towards prediction in business process innovation

Figure 8: Source: SAP

A subset of features

Figure 9: Source: SAP

Project manufacturing management is being innovated

Fiori is number one UI experience; SAP has most innovations through Fiori

Figure 10: Source: SAP

More innovation is planned for transportation management

Figure 11: Source: SAP

Manage CO2

Figure 12: Source: SAP

Working on extraction CDS views

Focus on Embedded Analytics

Invest in view browser

Figure 13: Source: SAP

A new round of Fiori

Focus on contextual awareness

Mobile is a topic; native development, iOS

Device agnostic is key

Figure 14: Source: SAP

Keyboard shortcuts for the power user

Reintroduce the transaction codes for launching

Figure 15: Source: SAP

Looking into how engage with large customers

Figure 16: Source: SAP

Systems set up in scale-out

Some customers using that

Further ability how scale-out can be done

Data volume management – NSE to help unload data

Deferred summarizing in finance

Archiving and ILM – being re-introduced – data aging didn’t work as good as expected; good for technical data, but for business applications – lead to reloading data, hard to find demarcation of aging.  Aging has a limit.  Archiving is coming back to manage high volumes

Figure 17: Source: SAP

Zero downtime is now GA

Large customers – down time windows are scarce

Figure 18: Source: SAP

Readiness check now exists for the upgrade process too

Figure 19: Source: SAP

Now looking into integration on the readiness check

Share API’s

Figure 20: Source: SAP

Compatibility scope

Where SAP is at

2023  – replacement for compatibility scope

Provide alternatives

Extended use rights for LE-TRA, CS, PP-PI – to 2030; plan to have alternatives by 2023

How move to compatibility scope items

What happens January 1, 2026?  Code exists, license fades, legal cut

• Not entitled to use

Can keep and report against the old data

Focus on implementing new solution

Open items approach – what leave behind, what moves to new solution

Q&A

Q: In future, the users will have ability to use t-codes – will this be available via patch?

A: It will be upgrades not just a patch

Q: Resources to use (machine learning) ML app development?

A:  Information on intelligent scenarios – find ML innovations across the board – good asset that compares ERP to S/4HANA, renewed with 2021 release

Q: I am just planning my move to S/4HANA what should I take into consideration from the road map?

A: Look to drive innovation; take advantage

Some things are really different – analytics – Fiori as an access pattern, work is more insight to action

Innovation won’t be just incrementally

Q: Can you go into more detail about Fiori Next?

A: Fiori Next – did an analysis of how users use Fiori to improve it

Identify the innovation – layout is improving, central entry point, solutions across the board – e.g. with BTP applications so the end user has a cohesive impression with one access point

Evolving the one inbox to have unique navigation for end user

Q: Tool to compare simplifications?

A: New capability inside Readiness Check

S/4HANA xx to S/4HANA2021

Helping you plan to adopt

Q: What should we consider with Fiori when move to S/4HANA?

A: On Fiori side, as build innovations, usually not accessible via SAP Gui, Fiori is the carrier of the innovation

Fiori is a must-use technology

Q: Once live on S/4HANA, what can you look to for updates?

A: See road map explorer

Trying to improve upgrade experience

Downtime management is achievable

Help customers stay close to innovations

Upgrade cycles have to be faster than they used to be

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I am glad the compatibility scope for CS has been extended to 2030.  It’s interesting that transaction codes are making a comeback.  I look forward to seeing the Fiori sales order app.

What are your thoughts?